Agenda item

Presentation on FDC’s key achievements and performance 2020/21

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Count noted that the annual report stated that highway schemes under the Wisbech Access Strategy were fully funded. He questioned this believing that only the purchase of land and design were fully funded, and other further funds had to be obtained from elsewhere. Councillor Boden confirmed this and stated that the report had not been updated from a previous one. He explained that the schemes would be ready to commence in 2022 but that bids could only be made for government funding once the sites are shovel ready.

·         Councillor Count questioned whether it would be useful to put a time limit on obtaining the external funding before looking elsewhere to attain the necessary funds. Paul Medd noted that there was potential for the Wisbech Access scheme to be entered for the levelling up fund but that this was not guaranteed. He stated that this would provide another potential route to obtain the funding for the schemes.

·         Count questioned why the target number for action taken on safety issues in private rented homes had dropped from 400 last year to 250 this year when only 226 houses had action taken last year. Councillor Boden explained that the figures were not comparable as the target set last year was pre-Covid. He noted that Covid had made it difficult to access houses to take action, time taken on investigations had increased, and that there were also additional new houses to consider. He clarified that there had also been a change in approach to programme of work allowing for a more targeted approach meaning that less properties had to be visited.

·         Councillor Count commended the Council on receiving the Customer Services Excellence award. He noted the figures provided showing how many calls were answered within 20 seconds but questioned whether stats could be provided for those with an elongated wait which he had heard reports about. He asked what guarantees the Council had that customers who were answered quickly are not then hung up on. He also questioned whether the Council had the facility to implement a call back system for those kept on hold for a long time due to excessive queues. Councillor Boden suggested that Councillors try to use the customer services on occasion to see the process first-hand. He noted that he occasionally did so and usually received a quick response. He noted that the annual customer satisfaction survey had only achieved 75% satisfaction in the previous year but that this had been skewed as most negative responses were concerning the second lockdown and people’s dissatisfaction with this. Councillor Boden informed the panel that the average length of calls stood at 5 minutes. He explained that this was previously longer, but average times had dropped due to staff gaining experience in dealing with requests. He also noted that the time taken to respond to calls had increased during the implementation of the My Fenland project due to training needs removing staff from roles for a period of time, but that performance was now returning to expected standards. He further explained that call wait times vary depending on departments as certain calls such as payments and appointments are prioritised. Councillor Boden informed the Panel that there were current improvements being made such as Digital Journeys which will reduce time for action to be taken as it removes the need for duplicated data entry. Finally, he explained that the current telephony system does not support a call back function, but the telephony providers will be asked whether this would be possible in future. Paul Medd commented that the My Fenland transformation project represents a move to a more efficient modern-day process involving interactive online systems and that this change was currently working well and provides better flexibility and choice to residents in how they communicate with the Council.

·         Councillor Count asked a further question on whether it would be possible to monitor those who have waited on hold for over 10 mins? Paul Medd noted that comprehensive scripts have been provided to advisors to help reduce call times and that there has been a reconfiguration of the front and back office to streamline more complex issues to officers. Councillor Boden explained that officer capacity is not the only reason behind excessive waits and that there can be technical reasons behind these waits.

·         Councillor Count asked the attendees what the one area was that will be keeping them awake at night. Councillor Boden answered that there were two things. One was the fear of failing to act properly resulting in someone falling through the system when they needed help and suffering harm due to this. The second was the management of risk with Council investments. He explained that the potential for getting it wrong would have long term financial impacts on the Council and that there was a fine balance between risk and reward. Paul Medd seconded Chris Boden’s first point. He noted that despite the Council being in a good position financially there was a great degree of uncertainty going forward due to the pandemics impact. He also recognised that with recruitment the Council are in a tough labour market when attempting to attract the right type of talent. He noted that the Council were doing their utmost to retain officers whilst also attempting to create a track record with the unprecedented regeneration opportunities provided to the Council over the past few years to entice new recruits to come to Fenland District Council.

·         Councillor Yeulett asked whether we are getting close to our targets in terms of housing development numbers and asked whether the Council were being proactive in getting younger people on the housing ladder? Councillor Boden replied that with the projected housing numbers the Council are in a good position compared to the government target set. He noted that the projections for the next 5 years are only projections and that the actual figures depend on what happens in planning committee. He further explained that the process of getting younger people on the housing ladder is much more difficult. He noted that there are various government schemes for affordable home ownership and that the previous scheme running in Fenland is currently being replaced by the national scheme. He argued that the political leadership should push affordable housing harder.

·         Councillor Yeulett noted the increasing risk of domestic abuse during the Covid pandemic and asked what challenges this had posed and how they had been addressed by the Council. Councillor Boden confirmed that this is primarily a Cambridge County Council issue but that the Council do have a part to play and that the findings so far are worrying. He stated that the Council do have anecdotal evidence that cases of domestic abuse may have risen during Covid based on the small percentage of those who come to the Council for housing assistance. He noted intervention had been required in 131 households across Fenland which was a rise from 106 the previous year and 82 the year before but accepted that the real problem is far greater than these numbers suggest. Paul Medd noted that the pandemic had an impact on everyone and that discussions had taken place with Cambridge County Council to highlight the impact and how this has affected the mental health of families. He commended the rapid introduction of the Covid and Councillors roles as community leaders Hub in helping the community deal with the issues caused by Covid.

·         Councillor Yeulett noted the government’s current lack of HGV drivers and current issues with supply. He asked whether this had any affect on Fenland and how we would address this going forward. He also noted that there had been talks of big rises in council tax. Councillor Boden noted that there has been a shortage of HGV drivers in England for years and that this constituted a long-term issue that was not solely due to Covid and Brexit. He explained that the concern would be for refuse collection however the Council have a good retention rate for drivers. He also noted that Fenland is and area where people come to retire and that this provides a steady supply of HGV drivers to the area as they are an aging workforce. Likewise, Councillor Boden noted that the the main concern with the fuel shortage was refuse collection. He explained that the Council have large tanks of stored fuel which are managed well reducing the risk of the shortage affecting the Council. Regarding Council tax, Council Boden explained that the government does not dictate how we manage our Council Tax and assured the panel this figure will be kept as low as possible whilst he remains leader of the Council.

·         Councillor Booth noted that the contact centre’s IVR messaging was clunky and that there was anecdotal evidence that residents had to wait a long time for contact centre responses. He also noted that the Council should consider having a measure for average call waiting times. Finally, he raised that the 97% of calls handled first time referred to residents who were provided an answer without being passed on and that this would not take into account those who had to have a call back from an officer at a later time. Paul Medd explained that the My Fenland project was aiming to create a standardised approach to try and drive down as many variants that can affect call waiting times as possible. He noted that the Council are attempting to create a more consistent customer experience through adding to advisors’ skillsets and implementing the use of scripts. Chris Boden agreed that the messaging was clunky for him. However, he explained that this must be appropriate for residents who are calling in and that it was not designed for Councillors. Councillor Boden supported the idea that it should be reviewed. He also noted that average wait times are measured but argued that lengthy delays were more concerning, and that priority should be given to reducing and eliminating these. Paul Medd interjected that there had also been significant upgrades to the Council’s online systems to allow self-service and that the possibility of introducing live chat was being examined.

·         Councillor Booth asked how long the hardship funds for self-isolation take to be paid to the claimants and how the scheme was progressing. Councillor Boden explained that there was a level of discretion in applying the funds but also specific rules on who can receive the funds. He stated that Fenland District Council had given out 715 grants, in some cases this was more than once to the same household. Paul Medd noted that the grants continue to be essential for those struggling. He explained that the time for the payment to be processed depends on the interaction with the individual making the request as certain evidence is required for a valid payment to be made. He noted that the Council conduct weekly pay runs and that certain people would get paid within 7 days if the evidence was provided within that time. He reassured the panel that the admin process is as fast tracked as possible.  

·         Councillor Booth asked what areas the Council have not performed so well in and what lessons have been learnt over the past year. Councillor Boden answered that compared to his expectations the Council had not increased the income of external funding from new sources as quickly as he would have liked. He explained that the Council were late comers to this source of financial income and that this had been pushed since he came in as Leader. He admitted that he may have been over optimistic but that the Council were redoubling their efforts to achieve something significant. Paul Medd stated that the one area he would like to see improvement in going forward was My Fenland and recognised that there was room for improvement. He noted that the team can work more efficiently through addressing some of the issues raised during the meeting. He supported Councillor Boden in the disappointment of the progress on the big projects and noted the fact that the Council is often reliant on the contributions of third parties to progress these projects. Paul explained that the Council had done well and that the process had taught good lessons. He hoped that there could be further improvement in staff turnover figures and recruitment and stated that the Council were continually assessing itself to ensure they remain a competitive employer.

·         Councillor Mason thanked Councillor Boden and Paul Medd for their presentation of the report along with staff for contributing to the report.